Is now a good time to buy a Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake or should I wait?

[pcslookout]

Going to be getting a new processor and mobo soon.

Also should I buy it from Amazon or Newegg ?

 

[Carfax83]

Why would you wait? Now is as good a time as any, unless you want to invest in the upcoming Skylake X HEDT platform.

As far as Amazon or Newegg are concerned, I would go with the one that is tax free. With Amazon, they will tax you based on where their warehouse is located I believe. With Newegg, you won't be taxed unless you live in Mexifornia California.

 

[terpsy]

or New Jersey

 

[psolord]

Coffeelake will be coming out in August. Personally I will wait.

If you can buy a 6c/12t cpu in 4 months, which will hopefully only be a little more expensive than the 7700k of today, why not wait?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

or New Jersey

Or Indiana. Of course, the advantage is that the Newegg warehouse in Indianapolis is just about a 10 minute drive down I-70 for me, so will
calls are very convenient.

 

[AMDisTheBEST]

Buy from microcomputer then newegg then amazon then ebay for new parts. As for all computer hardware, always wait until your old rig literally cant boot or runs games and whatever else like molasses but if you are like those in the upper income or come from one of those upper income family who flushes $$$ down the toilet like toilet paper, just go freakin nuts. I am a poor student so all my advice are relevant to budget builders only.

 

[geoxile]

or New Jersey

It's quite painful.

 

[Mockingbird]

With Newegg, you won't be taxed unless you live in Mexifornia California.

I would rather pay taxes if I don't have to live in the Confederate State of America.

 

[richierich1212]

If you can hold out for the upcoming Intel releases then that's your best option. Otherwise 7700K or Ryzen 7 are great options right now.

 

[formulav8]

Buy an 8 or 6 core Ryzen. And buy from Jet.com if you've never ordered from there before. 15% off up to $30 three times per order. Spring15 is the code I think.

 

[krumme]

Get a ryzen r7 1700 and a b350 with some good ram. Its cheaper and faster and will last far more years. Buying 4c now is a bad idea.
The throughout of a 1700 is enormous vs its price. It will last.

 

[coercitiv]

Why would you wait? Now is as good a time as any, unless you want to invest in the upcoming Skylake X HEDT platform.

The OP is asking this in the context of Intel rushing the Coffee Lake launch - allegedly Aug 2017.

Unless the OP is using seriously outdated / unstable hardware or the OP updates his system on a yearly basis (24 months at most), waiting is the best option. The OP alone knows these things and this certainly is a tailored decision, but the potential for a large jump in performance for the same $$$ is there for Q3 2017.

 

[NTMBK]

What are you planning on using your PC for? Depending on use case, you might be better with Ryzen.

 

[StinkyPinky]

You should post your current system specs and what you use it for, so we can give you more accurate advice.

 

[Carfax83]

The OP is asking this in the context of Intel rushing the Coffee Lake launch - allegedly Aug 2017

Whoops, never mind then. I didn't know Coffee Lake was launching that soon.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Going to be getting a new processor and mobo soon.

Also should I buy it from Amazon or Newegg ?

I really hate to recommend that people wait for new gear, but I really recommend not buying the 7700K at this time. Coffee Lake is coming in August, so if you can hold out until then, I would do that.

 

[Ratman6161]

Going to be getting a new processor and mobo soon.

Also should I buy it from Amazon or Newegg ?

You don't say what you are going to be doing with it which makes a recommendation between AMD and Intel difficult. Personally, I don't give a crap about games but if you do that may change the answer. My old CPU was an I7-2600K which I chose over an i5 (in 2011) do to the i7 having more threads. So recently when I started looking to upgrade, I naturally gravitated to the 7700K. But then the Ryzen 7's came out with 2x the cores and 2x the threads (remembering that thats what counts for me). My local Microcenter has the 7700K for $299 and the R7 1700 for $329. So the R7 1700 was starting to look pretty good. But then the R5's came out and I ended up with an R5 1600. 6C12T for only $219. So for my purposes that was a way better deal than the 7700K. Then throw in that I got a decent AM4 motherboard for $39 as part of a bundle with the CPU and its hard to beat on price/performance ratio.

Wait? Not me. I usually decide based on what I can buy today. I guess if I really wanted Intel and the new 6C12T Intel CPU's were coming out in a month or less then a month I might consider it. But I wouldn't wait long. The other thing is that the new Intel generation is vapor right now. I also don't buy until at least the major review sites have bench marked a real world sample - which they did right before I bought the R5. But its up to you.

Where to buy.
1. Microcenter if you live near one. They always have great MB/CPU bundles on both Intel and AMD CPU's. I say if you live near one because their best deals are in store only.
2. Amazon. Others have talked about the tax issue. I can't help you with that because I don't live where you do. But I like both Amazon and Newegg. Newegg used to be my go to online place but nowadays Amazon is usually cheaper.
3. Newegg. I find it easier to shop on newegg. Its easier to find just want I want and to compare products on their site. I usually start there researching prices, user reviews etc but once I've selected a product I go check the price on Amazon and lowest price wins.
Note: When I say lowest price I mean lowest price delivered to my door. I always include sales tax (if any) along with shipping charges and base the real price on the total amount I'm going to pay.
4. Others. I probably wouldnt buy a CPU other than 1, 2, and 3 above. If I'm going to try out a new vendor I usually give them a smaller order or two to see how it goes before I buy anything big from them. But its been a long time since I've bought from anyone but 1, 2, and 3 and all my CPU's and motherboards have come from Microcenter. Looking at total price, even though they will charge me sales tax, they have always still come out the lowest price for bundles.

 

[sm625]

No reason to wait. It's not going to get any cheaper. That CPU still basically has no competition.

 

[LTC8K6]

$299 at microcenter if you have one near you.

 

[aigomorla]

No now is a horrible time to buy unless you can absolutely not wait.

The only thing that makes sense is if you buy a R7 Ryzen, because that wont see a refresh.
We have no idea if CoffeeLake will work on Z270 boards.

Knowing intel i bet you they are gonna make us get new boards.
Intel has not ever kept there promise of us not needing new boards on new gen of CPU's.

And with August coming in 3 months, your gonna be sad when you realize your current platform is outdated, and you could of gotten on the newer platform for a bit more with better features

So unless you absolutely cant wait, get a Ryzen.
If you can, see what Coffeelake and KrabyLake has to offer before you look at Ryzen.

OR just get a Ryzen to play with until 3 months, and then sell it, as it will most definitely have a better resell value over 7700k due to it not being outdated.

 

[jpiniero]

OR just get a Ryzen to play with until 3 months, and then sell it, as it will most definitely have a better resell value over 7700k due to it not being outdated.

Except AMD is going to have to cut prices on the 1700X and 1800X once Skylake-X arrives; assuming Intel shows any amount of price aggression. The 7700K is basically going to be moved to the i5 price bracket once Coffee Lake arrives.

 

[Ratman6161]

No reason to wait. It's not going to get any cheaper. That CPU still basically has no competition.

If your primary interest is games, that's true. On the other hand, for those of us who don't give a crap about games...not so much

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Interesting thread, but we'd seen this topic many . . . many times for several generations. Sometimes, perhaps more recently, it makes a big difference; other times -- not so much.

I'm conflicted myself about whether to update a Skylake to a Kaby Lake. If I do, I'll want to "finally let go" of my Win 7 installation for this system. No need to discuss that further, and if someone is puzzled, someone else can also explain.

But let's see what happens in August. meanwhile, I'll game and tweak and tweak and game into oblivion and to my heart's content. . . .

The hassle of frequent hardware upgrades has a factor behind it of invested time in configuring and using software, the SYSPREP troubles of moving to new hardware, and the license difficulties of the OS knitted to the old hardware.

If you have what you think is a "good thing" in all ways only including the clocks, performance and stability, you wonder how long you get to enjoy it before swapping again.

 

[aigomorla]

Except AMD is going to have to cut prices on the 1700X and 1800X once Skylake-X arrives; assuming Intel shows any amount of price aggression. The 7700K is basically going to be moved to the i5 price bracket once Coffee Lake arrives.

why will AMD have to cut prices?

Skylake-X i predict will be so overpriced that AMD will still have the win in the performance / dollar aspect.

The only "price cut" i feel AMD will need to do is against CoffeeLake, however i still feel Intel will price that at a steep price which will again not effect AMD's price points or threaten anything against market share.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm curious to see whether we do get a decently priced intel 6c/12t CPU in August. If it has a single-core performance of a 7700K, it will be the best current gaming CPU and it will have the extra cores to keep the crown over the next few years.